UNITED STATES—I honestly cannot believe it’s the year 2014 and the face of racism is more prevalent than ever. It's like we live in this bubble, where the issue of racism is spotlighted; we talk about if for awhile before it disappears and returns with a vengeance.

I thought the year 2013 was a breakthrough for
America on race relations with the Paula Deen debacle and the atrocity of “Big Brother 15” that made racism a national issue.Nope, we are back to square one, as the city of
Ferguson,
Missouri is in hot water.

It’s evident that racial tension lies in this city that many Americans had never heard about until now. The recent killing of 18 year-old Michael Brown who was shot multiple times by police while unarmed has unleashed a tornado of hate. The city of
St. Louis, and those surrounding
Ferguson, have literally come to the streets to violently address the issue at hand: racism. Or could the issue at hand be unlawful criminal conduct by police.

This is a tricky slope that has to be addressed as more reports surface from the media that there is a deep root of segregation as some would call it in the town of
Ferguson. The police force is predominantly white, and some residents from neighboring towns have already voiced they do not venture to certain areas because it’s “dangerous.”

A statement by the family of Michael Brown and their attorneys read: "Michael Brown’s family is beyond outraged at the devious way the police chief has chosen to disseminate piece mil information in a manner intended to assassinate the character of their son, following such a brutal assassination of this person in broad daylight.

There is nothing based on the facts that have been placed before us that can justify the execution style murder of their child by this police officer as he held his hands up, which is the universal sign of surrender.

The prolonged release of the officer’s name and then the subsequent alleged information regarding a robbery is the reason why the family and the local community have such distrust for the local law enforcement agencies.

It is no way transparent to release the still photographs alleged to be Michael Brown and refuse to release the photographs of the officer that executed him.

The police strategy of attempting to blame the victim will not divert our attention, from being focused on the autopsy, ballistics report and the trajectory of the bullets that caused Michael’s death and will demonstrate to the world this brutal execution of an unarmed teenager."

Things have gotten so bad in the city, that Missouri Governor Jay Nixon called the National Guard into town to help control the violence that is growing in intensity, even though a curfew has been placed into effect. The interesting facet about
Ferguson is the demographic make-up of the city; at a time it was predominantly white, but is now more than 60 percent African-American. Another interesting piece of information is that the Ferguson Police Department is predominantly White, only 5 members of the force are minorities. Same stats apply for the schools and officials of government. For a population that is primarily minority, not many minorities hold positions in government in the city.

The argument has exploded that this has been a long going issue of tension that has been building in the suburb of
St. Louis and surrounding areas for years. This incident primarily has caused a “release” of frustration that African-Americans in the city have felt from the police force. Still at the core of this horrific incident is rather racism played a role or not.

Eyewitnesses have come forward claiming to inform the media of what they seen, but can we fully trust what someone is saying without actual evidence to back it up? Not really, considering the eyewitness accounts vary. Some say that Brown was surrendering to the police, while others have argued that a scuffle transpired, so it’s difficult to grasp the truth, because the victim or suspect depending on who you speak to is dead. While race seems to be the spotlight of the issue at hand, I think its question of rather those in powerful positions are abusing their power.

Its all over national media, reporters from others states have descended onto Ferguson, in some cases reporters have been arrested by authorities while doing their job to get the story on what really transpired on with Michael Brown and the officer who fatally shot him multiple times, at least six times according to reports.

President Barack Obama has made his voice heard in the issue, and Attorney General Eric Holder will be visiting
Ferguson this week to examine the issue at hand.
America we have a problem when more incidents are being reported of individuals, particularly African-American youths who are being killed by police or citizens, with the motive of self-defense. The problem with most of these cases is the victim is deceased, so their tale of what has transpired is never told, we just get re-enactments of witnesses and the defendant in the case, so the “truth” still lingers somewhere in the middle of it all.